Watchmen

Creators

Contents

History

"Watchmen" was a 12-issue maxiseries published from September of 1986 through October of 1987, written by Alan Moore and illustrated by Dave Gibbons. The events of the story take place in 1985. The title takes its name from a popular translation of a latin phrase, "Quis Custodiet Ipsos Custodes?":[1] "Who Watches the Watchmen?"

Publication History

Although Alan Moore has stated he originally wished to use the old characters from MLJ Comics in the story, which were no longer being published at the time, he was unable to obtain usage rights. Dave Gibbons, who had worked at Charlton Comics, inspired him to use the old Charlton characters instead. However, Charlton had recently been bought by DC, and as they intended to introduce those characters into mainstream continuity, they were unavailable as well. As a result, Moore simply made his own new characters based on the Charlton characters .

Plot

In the 1985 of an alternate reality where superheroes are real (though only one, Dr. Manhattan, has superpowers), one of the vigilantes, The Comedian, is brutally murdered. This causes one of his former colleagues, Rorschach, to investigate on his death, and uncover a plot to kill and discredit all past and present superheroes.